Coroner Géhane Kamel heard the first witnesses on Monday as part of the public inquiry into the death of Jacques Côté, a man killed in April 2022, in Quebec, by a neighbor in a psychotic state. Statements entered into evidence show that the killer’s loved ones were concerned about his mental instability and tried to get help to prevent tragedy – to no avail.
The crime, which occurred on April 6 in a quiet street in the district of Haute-Saint-Charles, had left its mark because of its incredible savagery. Kim Lebel, then 32 years old and suffering from schizoaffective disorder, brutally killed his victim with an icebreaker under the horrified eyes of several witnesses.
The brother, father and employer of the murderer, found not criminally responsible by the court due to his mental disorders, had all observed a deterioration in his condition in the days preceding the tragedy.
Kim Lebel’s family alerted the police on April 4 and two patrol officers visited the home, without concluding that the man posed a danger to himself or others.
A few hours before the tragedy, on April 6 at midday, the murderer’s parents presented themselves at the police headquarters to enforce a temporary custody order signed that same morning by a judge. They wanted to have their son hospitalized, worried about their boy’s increasingly erratic behavior.
Hours before an intervention
On the morning of April 6, neighbors heard Kim Lebel, deeply religious, shouting “come get me” to the sky and “I’m dead” lying on his canvas garage. “A little later,” writes one of them in a statement filed as evidence, “he does “Hulk” on his land, he is barefoot and paunchy. »
Despite the excitement in the neighborhood and the aggressiveness of Kim Lebel who hits her garage with a pole, the police are slow to intervene when her mother comes to the station. The procedure, explained Monday the investigator at the Bureau of Independent Investigations (BEI) Julie Charron, required first taking the parents’ statement and analyzing the risk posed by the situation.
The police officer who met Kim Lebel’s mother and father that day tried to contact a duo of patrol officers specializing in mental health interventions, but they were already responding to a priority call. In their absence, “he will have to transmit [la demande] through the normal route,” explained Julie Charron – that is to say by email.
Meanwhile, the hours pass and Kim Lebel’s crisis does not subside. In the middle of the afternoon, he attacks the first car driving down his street with a icebreaker. “I rolled up my window and he hit it with the bar,” the van driver wrote in his deposition. She farted. » He turns back and warns another motorist who had gone to pick up her children to get out of the way “because there is a “crazy” behind. »
The woman backs into her driveway, but Kim Lebel vents her rage against her car. Faced with the cries of the panicked motorist, two neighbors, including Jacques Côté, tried to intervene. His good deed proved fatal.
Signs several days before
For those close to Kim Lebel, the alarm signals were accumulating several days before the murder. Suffering from mental disorders since childhood, Kim Lebel was going through a particularly difficult period since his romantic breakup in the fall. “On March 29, 2022, when I gave him another break because his condition was not better, he was still aggressive,” his boss recalled in his statement.
His father had noticed several episodes of delirium in his son a few days before the tragedy. “I even felt that he wanted to kill me,” he wrote in his deposition. On April 3, he even threatened to cut off his mother’s finger and mentioned the idea of suicide. It was the next day that patrol officers visited the son and found him to be harmless.
Kim Lebel’s parents plan to file a complaint against the Quebec police in this case. The Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DPCP) decided not to lay any charges following the BEI investigation.
The public inquiry is due to hear its final witnesses on October 29. On Tuesday, it is Kim Lebel’s ex-spouse, parents, brother and employer who must be heard.
Need help?
Do not hesitate to call the Quebec Suicide Prevention Line: 1 866 APPELLE (1 866 277-3553).
To get help regarding your mental health or that of a loved one, do not hesitate to contact the Info-Social 811 service.